More from the gloomy report: "[S]pending for computers, software and services will decline [...] 4 percent, led by an 8 percent slump in developed markets....The first quarter may be one of the worst ever for software makers, which may cut 5 percent of workers or more in 2009, said Brent Thill, an analyst at Citigroup Inc. in San Francisco...Financial companies, accounting for the biggest single chunk of technology spending, will cut budgets as much as 20 percent in the U.S. next year."

Sun, IBM, and SAP are mentioned as hard-hit companies.

One potential bright spot: "Solution providers who specialize in refurbished equipment are seeing signs of real growth in 2009, thanks to an abundance of nearly new IT equipment entering the product stream coupled with slashed IT budgets."